Re: [Paddlewise] Whitewater vs. Surf boats

> Now that my Romany Explorer is on its way from Wales, my thoughts are 
> turning to surf kayaks.  I love surfing the Romany, but I would like a 
> dedicated kayak for surf.  I've looked at a lot of web pages, and it seems 
> that a lot of WW kayaks double as surf kayaks.  Are they in fact 
> different?  Here in the holy land I think I can get Prijon, Pyranha, and 
> perhaps Mega.  Can anyone point to specific models worth investigating?
> 

   I guess a lot of this depends on what kind of surfing you want to do. It 
would appear that you are looking for more performance then your Romany. 
Virtually any smaller white water boat will offer this. One of my favorite 
surf boats is an old Perception Saber, which is no longer made. I get a lot 
of abuse from other paddlers about my choice of boat, but I don't care, I 
like it. 
   Of course if you want to compete, or just really do some major shredding, 
then you'll want to look at something along the lines of a wave ski, or a 
surf kayak, which is really little more then a wave ski with a cockpit. These 
are designed like surf boards and can be really wild on a wave once you get 
used to it.
   As for which is the best, well, I know paddle craft surfers who are 
continually going through boats in search of the perfect ride. I've surfed 
just about everything I can get my hands on and I can tell you that it's all 
fun and challenging. But I guess I'm not the purist that some of these other 
surf rats are.

Scott
So.Cal.

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************